1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of telecommunications. More particularly, the present invention relates to call forwarding services that enable subscribers to forward calls to alternative locations.
Acronyms
The written description provided herein contains acronyms which refer to various telecommunications services, components and techniques, as well as features relating to the present invention. Although some of these acronyms are known, use of these acronyms is not strictly standardized in the art. For purposes of the written description herein, the acronyms are defined as follows:
Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN)
Authentication/Subscription Information (ASI)
Caller Identification (Caller ID)
Central Office (CO)
Customer Premises Equipment (CPE)
Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF)
Graphical User Interface (GUI)
Generic Data Interface (GDI)
HyperText Mark-Up Language (HTML)
HyperText Transfer Language Protocol (HTTP)
Incoming Call Manager (ICM)
Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
Internet Caller Identification (ICID)
Internet Call Waiting (ICW)
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)
Line Information Database (LIDB)
Outgoing Call Control (OCC)
Personal Computer (PC)
Personal Call Manager/Personal Communications Manager (PCM)
Personal Identification Number (PIN)
Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
Registration Server (RS)
Service Control Point (SCP)
Service Management System (SMS)
Service Node/Intelligent Peripheral (SN/IP)
Service Switching Point (SSP)
Signaling System 7 (SS7)
Signaling Transfer Point (STP)
Terminating Attempt Trigger (TAT)
Transaction Capabilities Application Part (TCAP)
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
World Wide Web (WWW)
2. Background Information
Currently, subscribers to call control services within the public switched telephone network (PSTN) are able to initiate and modify their services by calling a customer service representative or by interacting with an interactive voice response (IVR) system using a standard dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) telephone device. These methods practically limit the number and types of services that can be provided to and modified by the subscribers because all information pertaining to the services is presented audibly. In addition, the potential market for subscribers to call control services is not fully exploited because of customer reluctance to use IVR systems.
There have been attempts to remedy the problems associated with IVR access to PSTN services. These attempts incorporate use of packet switched data networks, such as the Internet, to avoid conventional IVR systems and to streamline the initiation and modification functions. The current Internet based systems have several drawbacks, however, including the inability to ensure near real-time update of services and incompatibility with existing IVR implementations.
For many call control services, subscribers must submit requests to the customer service arm of their provider to initiate new services or update existing ones. The requests are implemented according to the provider's time line and discretion. It is difficult for the users to gauge when the service alteration will take effect. Also, because the current Internet based systems operate exclusively from the conventional IVR systems, i.e., the two systems cannot coexist, customers must select either the Internet interface or the IVR interface. Consequently, a customer who has selected the Internet interface, and who is without a PC and/or Internet access, is not able to make desired changes to his or her services through an IVR. The inability to implement desired changes is especially troublesome considering that users are often interested in altering some call services (e.g., call forwarding, paging, and caller ID) when they are away from their home or business telephone and PC.
An example of call control services provided over a packet switched data network is described in CHANG et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,016, which teaches enabling advanced intelligence network (AIN) services over the World Wide Web (WWW or “the Web”) through a provisioning system called the service management system (SMS). The service management system as disclosed in CHANG et al., however, does not ensure near real-time data update and is not compatible with existing IVR implementations. Therefore, the services presented via the Web are limited in functionality to the extent near real-time data updates are not guaranteed. For example, if a subscriber modifies an incoming call service, which blocks calls from selected phone numbers or classes of phone numbers, to add an allowed incoming phone number, the subscriber will not begin immediately to receive calls from the previously blocked phone number. Rather, the subscriber must wait an unspecified period of time for the service to be updated via the SMS. Also, as discussed above, the Web interface and the IVR interface are mutually exclusive.
One conventional call control service affected by these disadvantages is call forwarding. Currently, a subscriber must painstakingly interact with the service provider every time the subscriber wishes to forward incoming calls to a different telephone number. Generally, this process must be performed using an IVR system dependent on touch tones of a DTMF telephone. Although there are systems available that permit the subscriber access to a call forwarding service over the Internet, these systems are limited in functionality. For example, a conventional approach to implementing a call management system, including a call forwarding service, is presented in WOOD et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,808, which describes a telephone call management network that can be remotely accessed by customers using Web browsers over the Internet. One of the call services managed by the system disclosed in WOOD et al. is call forwarding. In WOOD et al. the customer is able to activate and deactivate call forwarding via a Web facility. However, there is no provision for accomplishing the same objective alternatively via a PSTN, only using a DTMF telephone.
Another disadvantage of conventional Internet accessible call forwarding systems is incompatibility with IVR access to the same call forwarding account. In other words, if the subscriber elects to have Internet accessible call forwarding, then the service cannot be routinely changed through existing IVR systems. Therefore, subscribers are not able to update the service unless they have immediate access to a PC and modem (or device capable of implementing Internet connections). In order to have both IVR and Internet access to control call forwarding, subscribers would have to open separate accounts, which is inconvenient and potentially difficult for the provider to reconcile, especially where the multiple accounts may send conflicting information regarding calls to be forwarded with respect to the same telephone number.
The present invention overcomes the problems associated with the prior art, as described below.